House of Representatives Adopts by Majority 2021 Appropriation Bill

The House of Representatives (Lower House) adopted by a majority, on Friday, in plenary session the Appropriation Bill No. 65.20 for the year 2021.

The text received the approval of 59 deputies and was rejected by 29 others.

Responding to interventions by parliamentary groups at a plenary session on the 2021 Appropriation bill held Thursday at the Lower House, Minister of Economy, Finance and Administration Reform, Mohamed Benchaaboun said that the government reacted positively to amendment proposals submitted by the majority and opposition groups. Out of 185 amendment proposals received — including 178 proposals submitted under the first part of the appropriation bill –, 49 have been accepted.

“This consensus on the principle of solidarity prompted the government to react positively to the majority of the amendment proposals submitted by the majority and opposition groups, to establish the necessary balance between the contributions of natural and legal persons,” Benchaaboun stated.

He also recalled that “the threshold of the solidarity contribution will be raised from MAD 120,000 in yearly revenues to MAD 240,000, which equals to a monthly MAD 20,000 salary,” he said.

For companies, Benchaaboun noted that the solidarity contribution has been lowered to MAD 1 million instead of MAD 5 million, adding that the applied rate will be gradual and will range between 1.5% and 3.5% of the profit.

The amendment proposals accepted touched on the conditions for income tax exemption for youth employment, by raising the working time from 24 to 36 months and the age condition from 30 to 35 years, the reduction of registration fees on capital increase operations (from 1% to 0.5%), in addition to tax exemption for interest paid to residents who are not subject to income tax under the actual or simplified net income system, on Treasury bills issued until 2021.

They also touch on the reduction of the import duty on synthetic polystyrene fibers from 17.5% to 2.5% to support the textile sector.

The bill is based on three major orientations, namely the acceleration of the implementation of the recovery plan for the national economy, the launch of the first phase of generalization of social coverage and the strengthening of the bases of exemplary nature of the State and the optimization of its functioning.